Program Associate job in Rwanda

November 1, 2015

133

Early-career professionals with 2 – 5+ years work experience to serve in a position that combines both field and management experience in Africa.
Job Location:Rural Rwanda
Duration:Minimum 2 years commitment, full-time job.
Job Description
One Acre Fund Rwanda launched in 2007 and is now our second largest country of operation. As One Acre Fund anticipates 50% growth in enrollment this year, much of this growth will come from our Kenya and Rwanda operations. In 2014, Rwanda reached its highest enrollment numbers to date, and working with our Rwanda team presents the opportunity to directly serve 10% of the Rwandan population in the next four years.
We are currently seeking Program Associates in Rwanda on the following teams:
• Field Operations: The main objective of our Field Operations team is to build the capacity of our local staff to provide financially sustainable impact, at scale, to all farmers. This team is the direct service provider to our farmers. Field Operations is responsible for setting strategy, developing content, liaising with other departments, and ensuring execution of our program at scale. Every material or strategy rolled out through the core program will reach hundreds of thousands of farmers! Example projects include:
o Operations Management: Most Program Associates start out partnering with a Senior Field Director to support ongoing operations/district performance management and mentor the field leadership in that region. Eventually, Field Operations team members take-on more central management responsibilities, which could include managing our core calendar, managing communication flow from the operations team to the field, and/or facilitating key meetings with other departments.
o Scale Improvements: All Program Associates will be expected to manage anywhere from 1 to 3 scale improvement projects that set our core program content and aim to improve the way that we operate at scale. This involves managing a project plan/calendar, making strategy recommendations, developing content, and ensuring execution. An example of a scale improvement project would be leading the scale-up of major program change like mobile repayment where farmers can repay their loan using mobile money.
• Product Innovations: The objective of Product Innovations is to increase One Acre Fund’s positive impact on farmers’ lives by developing new products and improving our existing product offering. This team manages our agricultural and non-agricultural product pipelines and runs trials using a multi-phased product development cycle to determine if new a product should be offered to our entire client base. Example projects include:
o Agriculture Product Development: A Program Associate typically manages one of the stages in the Agricultural Product Development cycle, which includes research stations, farmer trials, demo plots, and large farmer trials. Additionally, a Program Associate may manage 1-2 non-agricultural products that are in development (for example, reusable sanitary pads).
o Trial Design & Execution: Program Associates fully own projects and are responsible for all aspects from trial design through execution. Each Program Associate manages a project until it either reaches full scale and is handed to our Core Program team or until the product shows no further promise.
o Mentorship & Development of Staff: Manage and mentor 1-2 staff; in addition to assisting with Product Innovations trials, staff will develop into independent innovators capable of leading their own projects.
• Scale Innovations: The Scale Innovations team aims to deepen One Acre Fund’s impact on every community we serve by increasing the percent of households who join our program, and by developing innovations that help our field staff serve farmers better. Our trials include innovations around marketing, mobile technologies, farmer cash constraints, and more. We develop trial interventions using a combination of data analysis and human centered design methods, and test them using field pilots, surveys, and close engagement with farmers. Recent projects include piloting new strategies for marketing to our farmers, testing new forms of repayment incentives, and integrating tablets into our field program.
o The typical steps in a trial include:
 Understand the problem and develop trial concept: Meet with field leaders, gather information using surveys, analyze existing KPIs, observe operations in the field, talk to farmers, literature reviews, etc. Identify and prioritize ideas to improve the program.
 Plan the trial: Design a quantitatively rigorous trial. Plan a project calendar and create field tools and talking points. Design integration with tech and finance systems and set up incentive systems that promote success.
 Run the trial: Supervise trial roll-out, usually done by Field Officers. Visit the trial in the field to observe execution and propose mid-trial changes where appropriate.
 Collect/analyze data: Usually involves both quantitative and qualitative components.
 Communicate results: Create reports, present findings, meet with key stakeholders to determine how findings should be implemented in our core program, or if trial should be scaled up/rerun/canceled.
o Mentorship & Development of Staff: Manage and mentor 1-2 staff; in addition to assisting with Scale Innovations trials, staff will develop into independent innovators capable of leading their own projects.

Career Growth and Development
One Acre Fund invests heavily in building management and leadership skills. Your manager will invest significant time in your career development. We provide constant, actionable feedback delivered through mentorship and through regular management consulting-style career reviews. We also have regular one-on-one meetings, where we listen to and discuss career goals, and work collaboratively to craft roles that each person can be passionate about. Because of our rapid growth, we constantly have new roles opening up and opportunities to grow in many functions. This results in relatively fast career growth for our staff.

Qualifications
We are seeking exceptional professionals with 2 to 5+ years of work experience, and a demonstrated long-term passion for international development. Candidates who fit the following criteria are strongly encouraged to apply:
• Strong work experiences. Examples include a demanding professional work experience, or successful entrepreneurial experience (e.g. starting a field program in a developing country, leading a conference, starting a business, solid Peace Corps accomplishments).
• Leadership experience at work, or outside of work.
• Top-performing undergraduate background (include GPA and test scores on your resume).
• Humility. We are looking for passionate professionals who combine strong leadership skills with good humor, patience, and a humble approach to service to join our growing family of leaders.
• A willingness to commit to living in rural areas of East Africa for at least two years – this is a long-term, career-track role. The ideal candidate will have at least one year demonstrated experience working in the developing world, although this is not a strict requirement.
• Ability to cook / laugh – desirable.
• Language: English required. Kinyarwanda-speakers are particularly encouraged to apply.

Preferred Start Date
Flexible

Compensation
Starts modest. However, this is a career-track role with fast raises for performance, paying a meaningful salary for long-term placement in developing nations.